Sanction accorded by Indian government to TEAM CLAW

August 2, 2021 In news

Indian Government has accorded sanction to Team CLAW to lead a team of people with disabilities to scale .

About Team CLAW

As part of Operation Blue Freedom: Triple Elemental World Records, C.L.A.W. Global opened registration to all Indians with disabilities. A team of retired special forces personnel, under CLAW Global, will lead a group of differently abled people to attempt a world record by trekking the Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield on August 15, 2021. A minimum of six people with disabilities shall be part of the final expedition team who will trek from the Siachen Base Camp to Kumar Post. Kumar post is located at an altitude of about 15,632 feet. This is the land world record expedition part of ‘Operation Blue Freedom Triple World Records’ being undertaken. Initially, a team of 20 people with disabilities would be selected to undergo training and three- stage acclimatisation, after which the final expedition team shall be selected. The 20 selected will undergo all the three stages of acclimatisation and training at (Stage 1), Siachen Base Camp (Stage 2) and North Pullu (Stage 3). Triple Elemental World Records is a series of world records being attempted by the team in 2021 of collectives of people with disabilities achieving great feats on land, in air and underwater.

CLAW Global & Operation Blue Freedom

CLAW Global was set up in January 2019 by Major Vivek Jacob, a Para SF officer, who had to hang up his boots following a combat skydive injury after 14 years of service in the Army. His perception of what it meant to be ‘free’ began to evolve during a Special Operation mission with the United Nations in East Africa. It aims to teach life skills to adventurers and people with disabilities. CLAW is a team of Indian Special Forces veterans, set upon a global mission to shatter the common perception of pity, charity and inability associated with people with disabilities and recreate it to one of dignity, freedom and ability. The team’s larger goal is on Operation Blue Freedom, a dedication to giving people with disabilities more opportunities to engage in adventurous activities and thereby improve on their physiological and psychological being. ‘Operation Blue Freedom’ was launched in 2019 by Team C.L.A.W.

Siachen glacier-

The Siachen Glacier is a glacier located in the eastern range in the , just northeast of the point NJ9842 where the between and ends. At 76 km long, it is the longest glacier in the Karakoram and second-longest in the world’s non-polar areas. It falls from an altitude of 5,753 m (18,875 ft) above sea level at its head at on the India– border down to 3,620 m (11,875 ft) at its terminus. The entire Siachen Glacier, with all major passes, has been under the administration of India (currently as part of the of , located in . region) since 1984.

Pakistan maintains a territorial claim over the Siachen Glacier and controls the region west of Saltoro Ridge, lying west of the glacier.